Bomb threat leads to hold and secure called at two elementary schools

A Kingston Police cruiser is parked in front of St. Paul Catholic School on McMahon Avenue in Kingston during a hold and secure on Monday after a bomb threat was called in. (Ian MacAlpine/The Whig-Standard)Ian MacAlpine / Ian MacAlpine/Kingston Whig-Standard/Postmedia Network

Both St. Paul Catholic School and Lord Strathcona Public School on McMahon Avenue were put in a hold and secure position on Monday morning.

Kingston Police said the hold and secures were put into effect after a bomb threat was called in to St. Paul.

Around 11:30 a.m., two Kingston Police cruisers were parked in front of St. Paul and one in the back during the incident.

Both the Algonquin and Lakeshore District Catholic School Board and LImestone District School Board tweeted that the hold and secure situations at the respective schools were lifted around noon.

The schools are on opposite sides of McMahon Avenue, with Lord Strathcona about 50 metres north of St. Paul.

Kingston Police also said the incident is under investigation.

On Dec. 5 and 6, seven schools in Kingston were placed into lockdown after receiving phone calls threatening violence. The calls nearly always suggested that someone would be entering the school with a bomb or a weapon with the goal of attacking students.

As per school board protocols, thousands of students huddled in classrooms with the doors locked and the window blinds drawn while Kingston Police tactical officers searched up and down their school’s hallways, in the stairwells, and on the roofs.

The schools that received threats in Kingston were Regiopolis-Notre Dame Catholic High School, Bayridge Secondary School, Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School, Marie-Rivier Catholic Secondary School, Loyalist Collegiate and Vocational Institute, Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute, and Holy Name Catholic School. Rideau District High School in Elgin also received a threat.